My infatuation with the 1950s housewife

Just what is it about the perfectly idealised American housewife of the 1950s that so appeals to me? Yes, I'm gay, but does that really make much sense for a reason? I mean, wouldn't it make more sense if I was straight? I am, after all, attracted to images of women dressed in some of their finest wardrobe, cooking and cleaning to their heart's content.

I guess when it's put that way it does sound pretty gay, huh? Oh, well.

Show & Tell: Art Frahm's 'The Crossing Guard'

While wandering through an antique mall over the weekend, I stumbled across this colorful gem of a picture hanging in a simple 8x10 frame. My eyes just about popped out of their sockets because, as my good friend Matt said, "It's sooo up Anthony's alley!" And if you're a regular Pop Circus visitor you know how true a statement that really was. So, of course, I snatched that puppy right up and took it home. But I was curious to know more about the artist. Just WHO was this Frahm person? Was this print out of a book, or was it one in a series? I had to know more. To the internet I went, and what I found was quite interesting...

Art Frahm (1907-1981) was an American painter of campy pin-up girls and advertising. He lived in Chicago and was active from the 1940s to 1960s. Today he's best known for his "ladies in distress" pictures involving beautiful young women whose panties mysteriously flutter to the ground in public situations, often causing them to spill their bag of groceries.

Frahm was commercially successful, and even his falling-panties paintings were later imitated by other pin-up artists. In fact, to this day the falling-panties art has a small cult following as mid-20th century kitsch, or even as fetish art.

In addition to pin-ups, Frahm created a series of humorous hobo-themed calendar illustrations. Another set of paintings celebrated traffic safety, complete with smiling, chubby crossing guards and schoolchildren. (Ding! Ding! Ding! Just like the one I have!) His advertising art included works for Coca-Cola and Coppertone.


























Boy, talk about one extreme to the other, huh? Somehow, Frahm even managed to make an adorable pup look like a "horn dog" in the second picture. That's a bit TOO creepy. I think I'll just stick with the traffic safety series, thank you very much.

I so WANT that!: The Nintendo 3DS

My poor husband. All he's heard from me for weeks, now, is how much I want the new Nintendo 3DS portable video game system. And if it were reasonably priced I might have one by now, but, unfortunately, it is NOT! You know what the thing retails for? $250.00!! Yep, you read that right. Pretty crazy, huh? That's the kind of dough you'd normally pay for a major game console. All things considered, though, I think it might be worth it... Read on if you're interested in what this baby can do.

3D without glasses, dude! I don't know how they do it, but it truly is amazing! I tried it out at a Nintendo display in a local store and I was blown away. A cool thing about the 3D is that there's an adjuster switch so you can fix the intensity for what works best with your own eyes. Or the effect can even be turned off completely, if you prefer. Aaand the 3D madness doesn't end there. No! There's also 2 (two) built-in cameras on the outside of the unit for taking photos in 3D (possibly video, too, but that hasn't been confirmed). How cool is that? What I've described here only scratches the surface of everything Nintendo's latest toy actually does. So if you're at all interested, I strongly recommend checking one of these bad boys out in person at a retailer near you. No amount of description could possibly do it justice - you HAVE to experience it first-hand in order to really appreciate it!

Maybe I'll do a follow-up post if/when I get one of my very own. That way, after spending more time with one, I could give a more thorough and educated review. Hear that, Nintendo?

The Worst Album Covers Ever!: 'Organ Fascination' by Dave Stephens

Artist ~ Dave Stephens

Title ~  Organ Fascination

                If you didn't know any better you might have thought

                this album should have been titled 'Organ

                Disappointment' from the look on the cover model's

                face. However, you knew that it was an album of

                organ music, of course.

Your mind can't help but wander when you can clearly see that this lady is "appreciating" the organ sans clothing...

~ Image and info taken from the book, 'The Worst Album Covers Ever!' by Nick DiFonzo. Published by Barnes & Noble, Inc. ~

Retro Book Fair: 'Young Reader's Color-Picture Dictionary'

Hey, look, everybody! The Retro Book Fair has rolled into town, again! I wonder what neat, old book is being featured this time...? Let's check it out!

Wow! As it turns out, it's actually one of my favorite types of children's books! This one is the 'Young Reader's Color-Picture Dictionary - For Reading, Writing, and Spelling' by Margaret B. Parke, Ed. D. and illustrated by Cynthia and Alvin Koehler. That cover is great, isn't it?! Now, let's take a look inside...

Look at those end papers! That's some beautiful illustration, right there. And we haven't even gotten to the content of the book, yet. Moving on...

I can't even tell you how happy these old-fashioned illustrations make me. That apple... That dog! Oh, good, here comes another page.

Handy, Mandy, Jack-a-Dandy, huh? Well, whatever his name is, he'd better hurry up and eat his candy before I do because it looks mighty yummy! Look, another page...

That party sure looks fun, doesn't it? And those pets... Who wouldn't want one of those? Hey, check out this next page. It's totally different. It's from the back of the book, and it highlights parts of the human body.

Again, I just really can't get enough of this happy, idealistic illustrative style. Almost makes my teeth hurt, but I totally love it! What about you? Does this sort of thing "float your boat?"

Well, that about does it for this installment of 'Retro Book Fair'. Until next time, remember... Be nice. But especially be nice to your books!

SOUND + VISION: 'I Confess' by k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang

Fun with Dick and Jane

I love the innocence of things like Dick and Jane, but I also can't help twisting it around and corrupting it a bit. Here's a mere sampling...

Everyone was impressed with the size of Dick's package.

But, most of all, Jane was surprised to learn that Dick

had such feelings for her...



My work is already done, here.









































I'm so immature... and I like it! What about you? Do you enjoy being silly and irreverent? If so, tell me all about it. I'm sure the rest of our readers would get a kick out of it, too!